Is England the most culturally boring country in modern times?

english sports are the funniest, because they can't win any of the sports they invented.

I'm from the continent and the idea to move back to the UK is quite appalling.

To the Us: NEVER!

I even shat on your -- well, haha, that was a funny evening! The Merkin went ballistic!

One thing is for sure: the USA has a better dental hygiene culture.

Michelle Obama is an elite-educated lawyer.

The U.S. gov't ran a budget surplus in April for the first time since Clinton, and the first six months of the fiscal year saw a 37% drop in the deficit.

While the UK has some cultural pluses, the country just seems so darn bleak to me.

--Constant overcast drizzle biting cold

--Old decaying buildings

--Uncivilised people who get drunk and fight and trample each other at soccer matches (beer not allowed in the stands says it all)

--Stupid old-world laughable traditions are celebrated...i.e. the monarchy

See for yourself using Google Street View. Go to any random street in in any town or city in the UK (especially outside of London) and 95% chance you'll see overcast skies, boarded up storefronts, streetscapes devoid of any greenery. Can feel the bleakness coming through the screen...

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=cardiff,uk&hl=en&ll=51.48443,-3.165951&spn=0.02301,0.028195&sll=38.762518,-121.164908&sspn=0.115247,0.112782&hnear=Cardiff,+United+Kingdom&t=m&z=15&layer=c&cbll=51.486842,-3.166497&panoid=uBtI0-VUcpi3iIATQaiIPA&cbp=12,344.25,,0,20.55

Hey!

Don't diss Caerdydd, if you turn round to the left on that streetview you've linked to and carry on down the road past the Tandoori and Canolfan Menter Canol Caerdydd you'll see blue skies and sunshine!

I shared this thread with my wife who is a UK fanatic. She went to her book shelf & gathered over a dozen books about England's history & said to me, England is boring?? England is boring?? ha ha

Yes we're Americans. I'm not in love with the UK like she is, but I can admit that Brits have a great sense of humor & I enjoyed my visit to England & Wales over my trip to Switzerland later in that year.

uncle sam i am wrote:

One thing is for sure: the USA has a better dental hygiene culture.

Reminds me, who was it said: “The trouble with America is that there are far too many open spaces surrounded by perfect teeth.”

I can't understand how anyone could go to London and find it boring. There's so much to do it's incredible. There's tonnes of fascinating stuff to see. I don't want to list it all off but a quick internet search reveals some of the great things that are in London.

As far as the rest of England goes, there's loads to do. When I went to the USA I found it far from boring. I think it simply depends on where you go.

serious reply to a (likely) troll:

It is not the most boring country. Any country that actively prohibits art and cultural development, such as North Korea, should be on the top of that list.

Perspective from a foreigner who has lived in the US 5 years (East coast) and then later in the UK for 3.5 years.

In the UK lots of "cultural events" happen in London. UK is London centred, but equally US culture is centred around the mega cities (west coast and east coast). If you live in the Northlands in the UK you are going to find it hard to visit a good musical, but if you live in Kansas you can't just pop over to New York for an art gallery visit.

Objetively, I'd say British and US art/theatre/musical/ pop culture are about evenly developed. But of course this is open to debate and a subjective topic at itself.

Music: I'd say US beats the UK, based on the power of the industry behind it. In both countries though shows like 'American Idol'etc... are RUINING the pop culture. Alternative music scenes exist in both countries (Go to Leeds/ Manchester etc... for dub/ dubstep - which is hugely UK influenced. Go to the US if you want to find unique groups playing grassroots/ folk rock type music, which is harder to find in the UK.

Sports. Completely subjective, depends if you like Football, or American football. Both countries have a huge industry behind sporting events. Here I am biased towards the UK, because I grew up in Europe with Football, I mean soccer, and never really got into American Football. I'd say 'even'.

Fashion: let's not be judgemental about the UK hip Emo style, but let's also not judge the US college fashion. I am not sure where the most unique fashion is designed -whether it is in the US or the UK. No idea.

What else is there... Authors. Hmm, UK has that chick who wrote Harry Potter. US has Stephen King.

Jeans, t shirt and drinking from a bottle and MacDonalds

Better boring culturally which the UK is not than having none

The funny thing is that everyone here thinks they're completely right. Which they're not. Everywhere sucks. The US, the UK, Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin america, they're all in the $hitter.

Except for Sweden. Hot girls, everyone's happy... They're doing something right

Denmark might have it over Sweden

dude, just stop wrote:

Except for Sweden. Hot girls, everyone's happy... They're doing something right

I love Scandinavia but recently metropolitan areas of Sweden have become increasingly overrun by African immigrants.

Not to bash Africans or immigrants as a whole, but something about Somalian culture just makes them horrible people when it comes to adapting to life in a civilized and modern society. Minnesotans and Londoners should also know what I'm talking about.

brits should have plenty of time and energy to develop a culture because they don't spend any time on brushing those rotten gobs or learning to speak comprehensible English

I say, whot, cheerio, smashing, oh reeelly

uncle sam i am wrote:

See for yourself using Google Street View. Go to any random street in in any town or city in the UK (especially outside of London) and 95% chance you'll see overcast skies, boarded up storefronts, streetscapes devoid of any greenery. Can feel the bleakness coming through the screen...

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=cardiff,uk&hl=en&ll=51.48443,-3.165951&spn=0.02301,0.028195&sll=38.762518,-121.164908&sspn=0.115247,0.112782&hnear=Cardiff,+United+Kingdom&t=m&z=15&layer=c&cbll=51.486842,-3.166497&panoid=uBtI0-VUcpi3iIATQaiIPA&cbp=12,344.25,,0,20.55

People are going on about boring culture and then in your 'random' street selection you choose a close up of a fully functioning Riley's?

Talk about irony.

I'm from the UK. I easily vote America on the whole.

If the UK was an American state it might be regarded as pretty interesting because you'd be able to skip to the interesting parts without worrying that 'But isn't this supposed to be a proper country?'

The USA is over 35 times larger. It'd be amazing if the USA was actually always 35 times more interesting considering that the UK does have a long history. But, on the other hand, it is unbelievable to me that the USA would not be at least several times more interesting than the UK on the whole. After all, the USA's history does stretch for several centuries itself. In fact, the USA has more old (ancient if you like) American universities than England has. England was content with just Oxford and Cambridge until the 1830s!

The USA contains grand old cities such as Philadelphia and Chicago. What has the UK got - Leeds and Liverpool? Come on!

You won't bump in to a Beatle- they got out as quickly as they could.

The USA has the true epicentre of the 60s counterculture spirit. No, it wasn't truly London- it was San Fransisco.

The Beatles even played their final concert there at Candlestick Park.

The USA's theme parks eat British ones for breakfast.

The UK has had a very decent showing in terms of music in the past few 50 years. But we don't have the USA's tradition of respecting its elder statesmen, it's old blues / jazz players. We have no equivalent of New Orleans. We don't do funk as well as the US does. We don't do girl groups like the US do. The British simply don't take to that level of

level of stylish confidence on the whole. It is real shame. The truth is the UK is not a land of polite gentlemen. Don't mistake quietness for politeness.

Sometimes the UK supports American acts better than the Americans do. But maybe Americans just had a lot more options as to what to do rather than watch Top of the Pops as it was. The USA is a diverse country connected by a positivity, a belief in God (usually), a belief that if/when disaster comes you start again, a belief in the young and the old (whereas the UK seems to believe in the middle aged!). The US does not fester in cynicism so much. Even the criminals in the UK can be personally nastier - it takes a lack of empathy to twist a knife in to someone (the UK's knife crime is at a higher rate than the USAs). The USA might sometimes be stereotyped as the Wild West but this frontier spirit has made it rich not only in money but ambition .